Promotions
by Shadow of Conflict
Summary: They should be thirteen, but at the moment they only number ten. It's time to boost the ranks.


The room was tense. The topic of discussion for this meeting was well overdue, and everyone knew it. Somehow, by putting it off, they were all hoping it would go away, and they wouldn't have to think about the ramifications of having lost three of their taicho. Somehow, they'd managed to put it off for over a decade, but now, in a moment of relative peace, with no imminent threats, a decision had to be made.

The ten of them were gathered in one room of First Division's Headquarters. They stood in their usual places, with the taicho of the First Division at the head of the column, and the taicho of Twelfth and Thirteenth Divisions at the end. The column looked unbalance, with the three missing taicho all being of odd numbered divisions, but there was little that could be done about that.

Yamamoto-Genryusei Shigekuni surveyed those before him with a critical eye. It had been decided two months previously that they would try and replace the three taicho by recommended candidates. If there were still places available, or there were too many candidates for the places, then they would hold a test for those who wanted the positions. So he had ordered everyone to hand in their recommendations by the previous week. All had arrived on time, and he had read the accompanying reports thoroughly.

Most of the entries he wasn't surprised at, as all were worthy candidates and would serve well as taicho, though there were a few he was sceptical about, as well as a few he wouldn't have thought people would have chosen. But now came the hard part. Normally, those who received six recommendations had to be supported by three of the remaining seven. However, there were only four remaining, meaning that the candidate had to please pretty much all the taicho, which would be hard when you had people like Mayuri and Zaraki voting.

Yamamoto looked down the line of taicho, studying them each in turn. Firstly was the taicho of Second Division. Soifon looked as stern and concentrated as always. The petite woman had herself become a taicho by passing the taicho proficiency test, since before hand she'd had little interaction with the Gotei 13. Whilst it was not too uncommon for members of the Special Ops to move to the Gotei 13, it was rare for one to become a taicho straight away. No one would have thought it possible to lead the special ops forces and become taicho at the same time. Yet, somehow Soifon pulled it off, and with good results, though Second Division was at a low in regards of squad numbers.

Soifon's recommendations hadn't surprised him too much, and were well backed up. She'd chosen with the experience of a seasoned commander considering members for promotion, which the woman was well familiar with, having grown up in Special Ops and as a personal bodyguard to her predecessor. She, unsurprisingly, hadn't recommended her own fukutaicho, but only two of the taicho actually had named their own. She had, instead, put forwards Abarai Renji, Hisagi Shuhei, and Kira Izuru. For her reasoning, she'd stated that two of them had been effectively running their respective Divisions since the betrayal of their taicho, and therefore had proven that they were capable of becoming taicho. Provided they could perform bankai, she would have no qualms with them taking the rank. As for Abarai, she merely listed points that indicated good taicho material, as well as the fact his bankai was strong, and would therefore give him little reason not to be taicho.

The absence of the Third Division taicho caused Yamamoto to linger before moving onto Fourth Division's taicho, Unohana Retsu. Not too surprisingly, Unohana's fukutaicho had received no recommendations. This was most likely due to the nature of Fourth Division, whereby the fukutaicho was groomed to take over from their taicho and none other, like Unohana herself had claimed the rank. So most had immediately dismissed Kotetsu Isane from the possibilities, regardless of how well she could have handled the job or not. Of course, Isane was entirely loyal to Unohana, and so would probably have turned down the promotion anyway.

Unohana's nominations weren't completely surprising either. Kira and Hisagi both appeared with the same comments that Soifon had applied, and in fact, Yamamoto had himself recommended both of these. His third recommendation also matched with Unohana's. They both put forwards Ise Nanao. Though he was a bit concerned at first with the woman, due to her betrayal with her taicho and Ukitake Jushiro at the Battle of Sokyoku, but he decided that her work ethic, loyalty and sense of justice were valuable traits. He would never admit he was wrong about the whole execution incident, but he was willing to admit that without all the facts people were bound to react differently and it was a shame they didn't see things earlier.

The Fifth taicho was also absent, making Yamamoto pass onto the Sixth, Kuchiki Byakuya. Kuchiki was one of the few taicho to have been recommended for promotion, as opposed to taking the test. And he was one of the two that had nominated their own fukutaicho. This was mildly surprising; since Yamamoto had heard that the man had told Abarai he was centuries too early to master bankai, but it may have just been the best of a bad bunch in Kuchiki's opinion, since they'd been ordered to each vote for three. As for Kuchiki's other nominations, he'd chosen Kira and Ise, providing a small list of positive points for each, though he was perhaps the only taicho to also mention slight problems with the candidates.

Next was the taicho of the Seventh Division, Komamura Sajin. Like some of the others, Komamura had voted for Ise, for her mind, and Hisagi, for his skills. However, he had also voted for one no one else had, Yamamoto's own fukutaicho, Sasakibe Chojiro. However, like Kotetsu Isane of the Fourth Division, most had assumed that Sasakibe was being trained to take over from Yamamoto, and so hadn't considered voting for him.

Kyoraku Shunsui's votes weren't out of character either; though Yamamoto couldn't be certain he wasn't surprised that Kyoraku hadn't put down his drinking partner for promotion. But then again, apparently everyone had decided Matsumoto Rangiku wasn't quite cut out for the position. Instead, the carefree Shinigami taicho had recommended Kira, Abarai, and Iba Tetsuzaemon. It was hard to decide whether or not this last vote was because the man was worthy of the position, or because Kyoraku felt sorry for the man's mother, whom Iba supported with his earnings as fukutaicho.

There was no ninth taicho either, so Yamamoto turned his gaze fondly to the youngest taicho. Hitsugaya Toshiro's report was yet more proof that the boy hadn't passed the taicho test by fluke. He had carefully analysed all those he'd considered for promotion (unsurprisingly, Matsumoto wasn't even considered) before finally naming the three he thought would bring the most to the rank and would perform best with the responsibility. His nominees had all been previously mentioned: Ise, Abarai and Hisagi.

Next came Eleventh Division's taicho, Zaraki Kenpachi and his list of possibilities. Yamamoto almost smiled when he saw that all those Zaraki had put forwards were either in Eleventh Division, or had been in Eleventh Division for a reasonable period of time. This consisted of Abarai, Iba, and the current Eleventh Division Third Seat, Madarame Ikkaku. Madarame was the only person to have been nominated that was below fukutaicho in rank, but it was rumoured the man had already mastered bankai, so there was no reason why he shouldn't have his name put forwards. The only thing he lacked was the experience fukutaicho gained whist helping their taicho run the Division. Then again, Yamamoto didn't think that the current Eleventh Division fukutaicho actually did much for her Division, though it would explain a few things he'd seen regarding the doodles on the paperwork.

Twelfth Division's nominations had annoyed Yamamoto somewhat. Firstly, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had nominated his daughter and fukutaicho, Kurotsuchi Nemu, for promotion and listing off all of her good points, before apparently losing interest in the whole thing, as the remaining two recommendations were written in a different hand and style. Of course, there was nothing wrong with Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho becoming taicho; the girl was powerful, smart and had talent in all areas. The only thing that was holding her back was her father. No one would seriously consider her for promotion until her father passed away or blew himself up in one of his ridiculous experiments, as he had too much of a hold on the girl. As for the other two votes, Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho had written convincing arguments for both Kira and Hisagi.

And lastly, there was the taicho of Thirteenth Division, Ukitake Jushiro. It was interesting how a man who couldn't decide who to take on as his second in command could make such clear cut decisions as to who could take on the role of taicho, a role much more demanding and important. And Ukitake had clearly explained his reasons for choosing Abarai, Hisagi and Ise. He'd pointed out where their individual potential lay, and how they would all react well to the challenge of being taicho.

Which left the scores at Hisagi Shuhei, seven, Abarai Renji, six, Kira Izuru, six, Ise Nanao, six, Iba Tetsuzaemon, two, Sasakibe Chojiro, one, Madarame Ikkaku, one, Kurotsuchi Nemu, one. This meant they had potentially four possibilities for the rank of taicho.

"Hisagi Shuhei," Yamamoto finally spoke, naming one of the candidates. "Has seven recommendations." He turned to Kuchiki-taicho. "Kuchiki Byakuya, do you support this recommendation?"

Byakuya remained silent, merely nodding his head.

"Eight!" Yamamoto announced. He looked to the next man in that line. "Kyoraku Shunsui, do you support this recommendation?"

Kyoraku nodded. "I support the recommendation."

"Nine!" Yamamoto declared. However, he still turned to the last taicho who hadn't personally nominated Hisagi. "Zaraki Kenpachi, do you support this recommendation?" he asked.

Zaraki was silent for a moment. "Yes," he replied. "I support the recommendation."

"Ten!" Yamamoto cried out. "Hisagi Shuhei has received recommendation from ten taicho, earning him the rank!" He paused as all the other taicho in the room inclined their heads in a final agreement. "Abarai Renji, has six recommendations," Yamamoto informed them. "I support the recommendation," he informed them, since he hadn't actually put forwards Abarai. He looked to Unohana. "Seven. Unohana Retsu, do you support the recommendation?" he asked.

She nodded, replying instantly. "I support the recommendation."

"Eight!" Yamamoto proclaimed, turning to Komamura. "Komamura Sajin, do you support the recommendation?"

Komamura thought for a moment before nodding and replying with the necessary declaration, "I support the recommendation."

"Nine!" he turned to one of the last men in the line. "Kurotsuchi Mayuri, do you support the recommendation?"

"Abarai Renji…" Kurotsuchi mused for a moment. "That pea brain doesn't deserve to become taicho," he muttered to himself, before announcing, "I oppose the recommendation."

"Abarai Renji has received recommendation from nine taicho, earning him the rank!" the Yamamoto announced. He waited for them all to nod, even a reluctant Kurotsuchi, before moving on to the next candidate. "Kira Izura has six recommendations. Komamura Sajin, do you support the recommendation?"

Komamura nodded. "I support the recommendation."

"Seven," Yamamoto declared. "Hitsugaya Toshiro, do you support the recommendation?"

Hitsugaya took his time in answering. In the end he replied, "I abstain from the vote." It was rare for a taicho to abstain, and was only really used if they didn't want to vote for their fukutaicho, or they were related to the candidate. Why Hitsugaya was refusing to vote either way for Kira was an interesting question, and several questioning looks were sent his way, but he didn't need to elaborate on the point, so he didn't.

"The vote remains at seven. Zaraki Kenpachi, do you support the recommendation?"

He seemed to think on it for a moment. "I support the recommendation," he replied, though not as caring as when he supported Hisagi.

"Eight. Ukitake Jushiro, do you support the recommendation?"

Ukitake had to think for a moment as well. The only reason he hadn't put forwards Kira was because of the incident involving the three traitor taicho, and he'd had enough other suitable candidates. However, there was no real reason for him to fairly oppose the idea. "I support the recommendation," he declared eventually.

"Kira Izuru has received recommendation from nine taicho!" Yamamoto informed them, though they could have all done the maths themselves. "Earning him the rank." He waited for them all to nod their final agreement, and was glad that Hitsugaya did. He did not need unrest among his taicho. "Ise Nanao has six votes," he announced, which startled a few of the taicho in the room. They'd already decided on three taicho, but there was another with six recommendations? It was something none had really expected. "Soifon, do you support the recommendation?" he asked, not allowing them to recover too quickly. However, Soifon didn't appear to have been caught off guard by this revelation.

She nodded. "I support the recommendation," she replied, putting the least emotion into the answer as possible.

"Seven!" Yamamoto announced. "Kyoraku Shunsui, do you support the recommendation?"

Kyoraku seemed to temporarily forget the seriousness of the situation, as he declared overdramatically, "You're all conspiring against me, me and my sweet Nanao-chan."

"Kyoraku Shunsui," Yamamoto repeated. "Do you support the recommendation?"

Kyoraku smiled. "I support the recommendation," he replied, which startled the gathered Shinigami more than the announcement that there were four candidates. Everyone knew how much the Eighth Division taicho depended on his fukutaicho. He wasn't going to last five minutes without his 'sweet Nanao-chan'.

"Eight!" was the cry. "Zaraki Kenpachi, do you support the recommendation?"

Zaraki scoffed, apparently at the thought of the scholar Shinigami becoming a taicho. "I oppose the recommendation," he replied.

"The vote remains at eight!" Yamamoto declared, before turning to the last taicho to decide. "Kurotsuchi Mayuri, do you support the recommendation?"

"Ise Nanao…Ise Nanao…" he muttered, much like he had done with Abarai Renji. "Ah, I remember. One of the few Shinigami who could even compare to my genius. I support the recommendation."

"Ise Nanao has received recommendation from nine taicho, earning her the rank!" Yamamoto announced. There were nods all around, but there was unease in the room. There were four candidates, but only three places. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Yamamoto withdrew his hand from his robe, and revealed a Hell Butterfly sitting on his finger. "Orders to Hisagi-fukutaicho, Abarai-fukutaicho, Kira-fukutaicho and Ise-fukutaicho. Report to First Division Headquarters immediately, by order of First Division Sutaicho Yamamoto-Genryusei Shigekuni," he said to the Butterfly, and when he finished it flew off out of the small window in the corner of the room, which was built for the express purpose of admitting Hell Butterfly's.

The four of them were gathered in one of the antechambers to First Division Headquarters. So far, they'd yet to say a thing to each other, apart from small greetings. So, naturally, it was Renji who broke the silence.

"Why do you think he summoned us?" he asked, raising the question they were all thinking.

"I feel tempted to suggest our respective division's sake budget," Nanao replied, earning blushes from the other three fukutaicho. "But then Rangiku-fukutaicho would be here too, so that obviously isn't the reason."

They didn't have to wait much longer for their answer though. The door at the end of the room opened, and all of the taicho entered the room, which was intimidating to say the least. They all wore serious looks, though Nanao was slightly relieved to see a small smile on her taicho's face. But the questions became a lot harder to answer. Why would the ten taicho of the Gotei 13 order four fukutaicho to come see them? There was no way she could be in trouble: her taicho maybe, but not her.

"Congratulations," Yamamoto said once the taicho were assembled either side of him, the taicho of even numbered divisions on his right, the taicho of odd numbered divisions on his left. "Each of you receive at least six recommendations," he informed them. "These recommendations were then approved by at least a further three taicho."

The four fukutaicho were momentarily speechless. What the sutaicho had just said implied only one thing, but that one thing was much too large for them to immediately accept. So it was Shuhei that asked the question on all their lips. "Recommended for what?" he inquired.

"For promotion to the rank of taicho," Yamamoto replied.

"But there are four of us," Nanao eventually commented after the shock began to dissipate. "There are only three taicho seats available."

Once they'd been informed of what they _were_ to do, they were unsure of _what_ to do. They had until the morning, which was when they would take the taicho proficiency test, and since it was already evening, that gave them just about twelve hours. They could fit in some practice in that time, but it wouldn't necessarily be beneficial.

But that left them with a harder choice. If they were to return to their respective barracks, they would have to face inquiries. They couldn't exactly announce they'd been promoted when there was a risk that they'd perform worst on the test the next day. So for a while, they stood together at the cross roads that would take them on the different roads to their barracks.

"I guess I'll be seeing you all tomorrow," Kira said, trying to start up some form of conversation among the unnaturally silent group.

"I won't go easy on any of you," Renji informed them.

"I would expect nothing less," Hisagi replied, Nanao and Kira nodding in agreement.

Silence fell again.

"Man, I need a drink," Renji muttered…

…and ten minutes later they were sitting in a bar in South Rukongai. Nanao wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to persuade her to come at all, let alone have a drink. But there they were, the four of them sitting round a small table with several bottles of sake sitting in the middle.

"I can't honestly say I was expecting this," Hisagi told them. "I mean, we've been working without taicho for Third, Fifth and Ninth Divisions for over ten years, and they suddenly decide that they want to replace them. I wasn't expecting it."

"I know what you mean," Renji replied. "They did give the impression that they weren't interested in replacing the missing three. They must have changed their minds."

And as their sobriety deteriorated, so did the conversation.

"Yeah right you could beat me, Blondie," Renji snorted. "I mastered bankai long before you did."

"Doesn't matter," Hisagi announced. "Because I'm going to beat all of you so bad you won't even remember what bankai is!"

Nanao snorted. "It's going to take more than your machismo to beat me," she informed them. "I've got the brains that you three lack to pass this test."

"Have you even achieved bankai yet?" Renji asked. "I didn't know you had."

"She's probably too ashamed to admit it," Hisagi backed up.

Nanao rolled her eyes and took another swig of sake. There were at least thirteen bottles of the stuff rolling on the floor. She didn't even want to think how many she'd put there. "Of course I've achieved bankai," she informed them. And it was true. Most of the fukutaicho had, since Aizen's betrayal had spurred them to do so, not so they could take advantage of the three possible promotions, but because they felt they needed to become that much stronger if they wished to prevent the demise of the world as they knew it.

"Go on then," Hisagi encouraged. "Describe it to us."

"I'm not ruining the surprise for you," she informed them. "Besides, you should probably be more worried about your own performance tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked, realising that the question was directed to all of them.

"Because," she began, taking another drink from the bottle of sake in her hand, ignoring the small cup in her other hand. "Because, we've drunk so much sake that there's no chance in hell we're going to be able to perform bankai tomorrow."

The three men all looked to the pile of empty sake bottles, and realised that Nanao was right. "Doesn't matter," Hisagi said as he raised his bottle. "I like a challenge."

"I agree," Renji replied, raising his bottle as well.

Kira smiled and held up his bottle.

Nanao raised an eyebrow at them. The challenge was unmistakeable. They were going to drink themselves sick, and then try to take the test the next day with what was going to be a killer hangover. The part of her that was holding onto her common sense told her to back down now, whilst there was still the remote chance she'd get up in the morning. But then there was the part of her that was too drunk to care, and it was that part of her that rose her bottle up as well.

They thrust their bottles together; almost smashing them with the force, before downing however much was left (which was over half in all their cases). Renji then dropped his empty bottle onto the pile before calling out, "More sake here!"

It was pure luck that caused Eighth Division taicho Kyoraku Shunsui to find his fukutaicho that night (or early the next morning). He and Rangiku had been unable to find any of their usual drinking partners, and so had decided to go search for them, stopping off at as many bars as it required (and having at least one drink at each one).

When they were just about to give up for the night, happily sated with sake, they overheard the owner of the bar they were passing complain loudly about drunken Shinigami who fell unconscious before paying their bills. Curiosity piqued, he and Rangiku naturally had to take a look and see if it was anyone they knew.

They'd been greeted with the slightly amusing sight of Kira, Renji, Hisagi and Nanao all lying unconscious on a table with a mountain of sake bottles on the floor and table. The two both stood and stared for a brief moment, before bursting into hysterics. "I thought you said Nanao-chan didn't drink," Rangiku managed to gasp out.

"I didn't think she did," Shunsui replied. "The amount of times she's lectured me, I got the impression she would never touch the stuff."

"We should probably get them back to their barracks," Rangiku decided. Unlike most, Rangiku didn't seem to lose much common sense when she was drunk, most likely due to her having little to start off with.

Shunsui nodded, and they began the task of carrying four very out of it Shinigami out of the bar. Unfortunately, the barman demanded pay up front, and most of it came out of Eighth Division's budget, but Shunsui decided Nanao could sort it out later. If there was a later, of course.

However, Rangiku and Shunsui had decided, as they stumbled through Rukongai and into Seireitei, that Fourth Divisions Headquarters was closer than the other barracks and that Unohana-taicho would probably appreciate a different set of drunk faces than the ones she usually got, which consisted of the two previously mentioned Shinigami and most of Eleventh Division (who usually only showed up because after they got drunk they fought, which resulted in a trip to Fourth Division).

So now, since Unohana had decided misery was its own best friend, Nanao, Renji, Hisagi and Kira were all sitting in one room with their heads between their knees over buckets, whilst Isane was trying to get them to drink water. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck, and they were too busy trying to blame each other for their condition.

"I shouldn't have let you talk me into this," Nanao groaned. "This is the reason I don't go out drinking."

"It's your fault for suggesting we wouldn't be able to perform bankai," Hisagi grumbled. "Without that unnecessary comment we wouldn't have gone this far."

"What are you talking about?" Renji snapped. "You're the one who started the whole damn challenge!"

"Just shut up," Kira moaned.

"Ohayo!" Unohana called out as she walked into the room. They all groaned in response. "I hope you're all looking forwards to your test. Sutaicho Yamamoto-san asked me to remind you that it is to start promptly in two hours."

Nanao looked up, her glasses missing and hair dishevelled making her almost unrecognisable. "You've spoken with sutaicho-sama?"

Unohana nodded with a smile on her face. "Apparently your taicho went to him to ask for your test to be postponed a few hours, but the sutaicho refused, stating that it would be a lesson for you all to learn."

All four groaned, and returned their heads to between their knees. Isane handed them each a glass of water, insisting they down it. After that, there were a few not so pleasant sounds, and even more groans. It wasn't looking to be a good day.

Somehow, they weren't quite sure how (though they were certain Unohana had some something to do with it), they'd all managed to pull off bankai. Their minds weren't particularly clear, just clear enough for the required task, and afterwards, they each retreated to a dark room with the aim of sleeping off the remainder of their hangover. Meanwhile, the taicho gathered to discuss what had been seen in the test, as well as the current state of the candidates.

That was until there was a knock at the door. The person on the other side didn't wait for a reply, merely opened the door and bowed as she apologised for her interruptions. Her hair was tied back, and her glasses were back on her face, but Ise Nanao still looked like she'd been up all night drinking and was suffering from a killer hangover. It was a fair assessment, since it was the truth.

"Sumimasen," she muttered as she bowed. "I came to ask something of the sutaicho," she announced, looking up and directly at Yamamoto.

"Whatever you say about your current condition will not affect how we decide the position," he warned her.

She nodded. "I understand," she replied. "However, I came to ask that my name be withdrawn from the list of those wishing to be promoted to taicho." Her words were met with silence.

"I knew my Nanao-chan would not leave me!" Shunsui declared.

Nanao winced at his loud and flamboyant reply. Other than that, she tried to ignore her taicho's reaction. "I don't believe I'm ready for the position," she informed them. "There are still things for me to learn." She paused before adding, "And I need to find a suitable replacement who could keep Eighth Division in check."

Shunsui pouted. "My Nanao-chan, you hurt me so."

"Ise Nanao," said Yamamoto, and she turned to look back at him. "Are you certain of your choice?" She nodded. "Then go get some rest," he ordered. "You look like hell."

"Argiatou gozaimasu," she replied and left the room before her taicho could attack her.

When the official promotions were announced, she congratulated Renji, Hisagi and Kira honestly, and they thanked her, saying that she should be with them. She merely smiled and shook her head. Once she'd regained her head properly, she remembered to go ask Yamamoto if he could keep her request quiet, since it would just cause unrest amongst the boys over who would have really gotten the positions. It just wasn't worth it.

She attended the promotion ceremony as well, since her taicho was obliged to go and he refused to go anywhere without his Nanao-chan. And she didn't mind too much, since she'd wanted to go anyway, and clapped with enthusiasm when they went up and collected their taicho's haori.

But what started out as a good day ended terribly when she came across a large receipt in her pile of paperwork (or rather, her taicho's paperwork, but since he never did it, it was hers). It was a bill for a rather large sum of sake from a bar she vaguely recognised the name of. She was about to yell to her taicho, when he appeared over her shoulder.

"Hey," he said, reading the receipt. "Isn't that the bar where Rangiku-chan and I found you at the night before the taicho's test?"

It was in that moment that Nanao regretted asking to be withdrawn from the promotion list. Because now she was stuck with her taicho who would never let her live down the worst night (and morning after) of her life.

"I took most of the money out of your bonus," Shunsui informed her. "Since that's what you do when I go out drinking with Rangiku-chan."

Nanao cringed.


End file.
